Noël Coward’s 1930 masterpiece, “Private Lives,” is approaching its centenary, yet it feels startlingly fresh. In this age of reality dating and breakup shows, there is a biting modernity to this almost 100-year-old play. When divorced exes Elyot and Amanda accidentally book adjacent hotel balconies on their respective honeymoons, old flames reignite into chaotic sparks. As one of my absolute Coward favorites, this Guthrie Theater production (running through Aug. 23) serves the classic script with impeccable style and savoir-faire. The cast sparkles against another stunning Guthrie set I would gladly take up residence on.
The playful chords of Bradley Beahen’s pre-show piano set an effortlessly chic mood, gently easing us into the performance. Peppered with timeless standards from Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, his lively audience engagement serves as the perfect musical amuse-bouche to the glorious havoc of the next two hours.
In his magnetic Guthrie debut, William Connell steps into the role of Elyot as the quintessential Coward leading man. Dressed with effortless sophistication and blessed with classic silver-screen good looks, Connell delivers a comedic performance that masterfully shifts from snuggling lapdog to snarling bulldog in a heartbeat. He wears the era’s tailored silhouettes as if born in them, but he looks even more at ease navigating the volatile chemistry between his two leading ladies.
Matching him beat for beat is Laura Odeh, also making a sensational Guthrie debut as the fashionably fierce Amanda. Odeh plays absolute vocal gymnastics with her line delivery, effortlessly pivoting from saccharine sweet coos to dropping her register into a guttural growl that is as frightening as it is funny. She commands the stage like a true mid-century diva, serving up equal parts polish and venom.
The tempestuous passion between Elyot and Amanda only works when there is absolute, unflinching trust between the actors, and Connell and Odeh throw themselves into the abyss with complete commitment. Once the former lovers flee to Paris, the production devolves from razor-sharp banter into full-blown physical comedy. Their passionate reunion rapidly disintegrates into thrown pillows, smashed phonograph records, and an all-out brawl across two plush sofas that stands as a triumph of pure, unadulterated slapstick farce.
As the unlucky pair of second spouses and staunch defenders of conventional morality, Nikki Massoud’s Sybil and Dustin Bronson’s Victor serve a vital function in Coward’s comedic machine. They are the essential straight-laced foils, the unwitting collateral damage caught in the gravitational pull of Elyot and Amanda’s orbit. Without their earnest belief in the ideals of traditional marriage, the play’s central absurdity would lose its anchor.
Both Massoud and Bronson are ideally cast, delivering performances brimming with comic precision. Massoud infuses Sybil with a delightful, high-strung innocence that slowly unravels under pressure, shifting seamlessly from wide-eyed devotion to hysterical indignance. Bronson endows Victor with a pompous, stiff-upper-lip swagger, making his eventual descent into flustered rage all the more satisfying.
Whether squaring off against their newly wedded partners or banding together in shared bewilderment, both actors shine in their moments of defensive pride. By the final curtain, as the cycle of madness threatens to ensnare them as well, they stand before us as hopeful souls completely conquered by the play’s logic. It is a grounded pair of performances that elevates the farce to perfection.
Director David Ivers moves this remarkable company through Noël Coward’s rhythmic beats with the fluid elegance of world-class ballroom dancers and the explosive precision of cage fighters. He possesses an intimate, bone-deep understanding of Coward’s genius, honoring the timeless appeal of the text while ensuring the comedic timing hits with a modern punch.
Working in exquisite harmony with Ivers’ vision is a physical production that borders on the divine. Alexander Dodge’s scenic design and Meg Neville’s costume designs complement one another like a fine vintage and the perfect glassware. Dodge has created lush, living spaces that feel astonishingly lived-in; his interiors are not merely backdrops, but environments where these actors can lounge, prowl, and toss off bon mots with complete ease. Neville’s costumes are a study in period tailoring, capturing not just the sleek aesthetic of the era, but each character’s distinct personal relationship with the clothes they wear, from the structural defenses of the second spouses to the effortless, undone glamour of Elyot and Amanda.
Tying it all together is the subtle brilliance of Pablo Santiago’s lighting design. Santiago uses light like a painter’s brush to evoke mood and locale throughout the evening. He guides us seamlessly from the sun-drenched, romantic warmth of a Deauville evening into the sultry, moody hues of a Parisian apartment, using shadow and glow to heighten both the romance and the shadowy, simmering tensions underneath.
So, while it wears the polished, silk-pajama exterior of a high-society comedy of manners, under the surface, its heart beats with the frantic, ridiculous energy of a brilliant farce. “Private Lives” is not to be missed.
